Era-Ch40

Chapter 40: Amber

“Little brother, you seem very familiar with these things. You’re doing much better than I could explain,” said Big Brother Lin Yue with a sigh as they walked out of the brick factory.

“Big Brother, you haven’t had much practice. I used to wander around the city often, so I’ve seen a lot and gotten better at talking about these things,” Lin Heng smiled and replied. “When it comes to buying and selling, don’t be afraid to bargain. Just be thick-skinned, and talking more helps you figure out the other person’s psychological price.”

“Don’t just accept the first price they offer you. If you do, they’ll probably take advantage of you.”

“Alright, from now on, you handle this kind of work. I’m not good at it,” Lin Yue laughed.

“Just practice more. We still need to go to the town to buy nails, cigarettes, glutinous rice flour, and such, so let’s buy everything and load it onto the cart to take back,” Lin Heng said, putting an arm around his brother’s shoulder with a smile.

The two walked and chatted until they reached the street, where Big Brother Lin Yue went to buy the items their father had asked for.

Lin Heng, feeling bored, wandered around.

Huangtan Town was divided by the Huangtan River, with a stone arch bridge in the town center. During market days, stalls were set up on and around the bridge.

Meat vendors, tofu sellers, and fruit and vegetable vendors set up together, but Lin Heng wasn’t interested in any of them.

He was, however, interested in a stall selling animal traps.

“Want to buy one? Fifty cents each?” the vendor asked.

“No, thanks,” Lin Heng shook his head but then thought for a moment and asked, “Do you have slingshot rubber bands?”

“How about a medical tourniquet?” the vendor laughed.

“You really have them?” Lin Heng was surprised to hear the vendor actually had them in stock.

The slingshot Lin Heng had at home, made from a motorcycle inner tube, lacked power, and even a squirrel couldn’t be killed from a distance.

“One yuan each. Here, have a look.”

The vendor took out two yellow tourniquets about the thickness of a pinky finger from a box.

Lin Heng pulled them out and stretched them, seeing no signs of damage. He confirmed they were brand new.

“I’ll take two for 1.50 yuan,” Lin Heng said, putting them down.

“No way… Alright, come back. I’ll sell them to you,” the vendor said reluctantly, realizing he had been outplayed by Lin Heng.

For 1.50 yuan, Lin Heng bought the two tourniquets, which were expensive industrial products.

Previously, his slingshot couldn’t kill even a wild pheasant from ten meters away, but with these, there would be no problem.

With the purchase done, he wandered some more. Down by the riverbed, there were piglets and lambs being sold, all raised by rural people.

April and May were prime times to buy piglets, but Lin Heng’s family already had some.

He went to a store and bought ten lollipops for his daughter Xiaoxia, spending five cents.

On his way to meet Big Brother, Lin Heng suddenly noticed someone selling stamps.

He almost bought some but then thought better of it. Stamps were only valuable in the future, and trading them now was pointless.

“Uncle, can you give me a candy? I’ll trade you this for it!” A boy, around six or seven years old, shyly appeared in front of him, holding out a dirty little hand with an orange-yellow, semi-transparent stone in it.

Lin Heng took a closer look and realized it was amber, with a ladybug preserved inside.

“Where did you find this?” Lin Heng asked, smiling.

“It’s from the riverbank,” the boy pointed to the Huangtan River.

“Are you sure you want to trade?” Lin Heng asked again. This amber wasn’t worth much, but it was worth more than the candy.

“Yeah!” the boy nodded. He was tired of playing with the stone.

“Alright, I’ll give you five candies for it,” Lin Heng said, handing over the lollipops.

Without saying thank you, the boy ran off, immediately offering the candies to a little girl, insisting that she kiss him before accepting them.

“Ah, even at such a young age, they’re already learning to woo girls,” Lin Heng shook his head and laughed, finding it amusing.

He examined the amber. It was smooth to the touch, about the size of an egg, three centimeters high, and just over one centimeter wide. The amber was a translucent orange-yellow, with a red seven-spotted ladybug clearly preserved inside.

Amber was common in this world and not particularly valuable, but it was still fun to have, and it was a small profit for him.

Later, he bought another ten candies for his daughter Xiaoxia.

“Lin Heng, are you done shopping?” Big Brother Lin Yue asked as he saw Lin Heng approaching.

“Done, not much to buy,” Lin Heng smiled and replied.

“Alright, let’s wait together,” Lin Yue nodded.

They waited for over half an hour by the bridge until two horse-drawn carts arrived, carrying the ceramic tiles.

“Boss Zhao, we’re here,” Lin Yue greeted.

“Hop on, I’ll lead the way,” Boss Zhao said with a smile.

The two climbed onto the carts. Although the ride was slow, they didn’t have to walk.

There were some large potholes on the road, so they had to get down and help push the carts a few times.

By noon, the rain had stopped, and the carts arrived at the road below Lin Heng’s house.

Lin Heng led the way, and Boss Zhao, along with two workers, started unloading the tiles.

When the tiles arrived, Lin Heng’s father quickly came over, offering a cigarette, a brand of “Da Qian Men” that he usually wouldn’t waste.

They discussed a few things before enthusiastically helping to unload the ceramic tiles.

Lin Heng couldn’t be bothered to help. Instead, he took a machete and carved a slingshot fork, carefully sanding it down.

He was preparing to head into the deep mountains soon. Wandering around these low-lying areas wasn’t yielding much.

“Five hundred tiles have been unloaded, and thirty are broken. I’ll make a note of it, and you can settle up once everything is moved,” Boss Zhao said with a smile.

“Alright, we’ll settle the payment once everything is here,” Lin Heng’s father nodded and saw them off.

After lunch, Lin Yue was sent out to hire some workers for 50 cents a day to help build the house.

Lin Heng, following his plans, started marking lines on the ground and sprinkling lime in preparation to build the house the day after tomorrow.

“Carpenter Liang, can you make me a few arrow shafts? My own are too crooked.”

After finishing his work, Lin Heng found the carpenter, Liang.

“Sure, using paulownia wood is fine?” the carpenter asked indifferently.

“Fine,” Lin Heng nodded. He had made a few from bamboo, but they felt a bit heavy, probably because the bamboo hadn’t dried properly.

He had also bought some fletching feathers earlier, and the feathers from the pheasant he had hunted could be used as well.

“I’ll make them when I get some free time,” the carpenter said casually.

At lunchtime, Xiulan returned. Lin Heng took the opportunity to stop her when she went into the bedroom to fetch something.

“What’s up?” Xiulan looked back at him.

“Here’s the thirty yuan I earned today. You keep it for now,” Lin Heng handed her the money.

Xiulan froze for a moment. This was the first time Lin Heng had asked her to save money, and so much of it. It felt like a dream to her.

“Don’t you want it?” Lin Heng smiled slightly and asked.

Xiulan shook her head. “No, you can keep it. Just don’t spend it recklessly.”

“Then give me a kiss, and I’ll leave it to you,” Lin Heng chuckled, enjoying teasing her.

Xiulan blinked, feeling a little shy. “It’s broad daylight, maybe at night.”

“Nope,” Lin Heng shook his head.

Xiulan looked toward the door. Seeing no one around, she suddenly leaned in and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before grabbing the money and quickly turning to put it in her little iron box.

Lin Heng laughed heartily. “After the house is done, I’m planning to head into the deep mountains.”

Building mud houses in the countryside was very fast—if there were dozens of workers, the house could be completed in just five days, with the tiles installed.

End of chapter.